Retail Marketing Service

A few weeks ago, my friend Eric Smith from online retailer One Click Ventures asked me who “owns” conversion. At the time, I thought he wanted to know who I believed was responsible for establishing conversion rate objectives and measuring against them, so I replied, “Marketing.” Upon further thought, I think he was ultimately getting at who – in any given company – is “accountable” for conversion. And to that I have a very different answer.

I began my career in 1994 buying media for a large fast-food retailer we’ll call “Softee’s.” Mine was a five-state territory with a multimillion dollar...

Digital marketers know that it’s all about the numbers. Every quality social media tool will have a powerful analytics platform to show CMOs (and their teams) how effective their social media strategies are shaping up to be. Hopefully, most CMOs also know that social media is truly an area of marketing where the numbers can craft a narrative. Although numbers can’t capture all the nuances of a brand’s voice on social media, the numbers do help to show how well the brand’s messages are being received by customers, and that’s a direct reflection of the strategy and voice as a whole.

As a CMO,...

There is no doubt that the CMO and CIO roles will merge in the near future. Gartner predicts that the CMO will control the majority of the IT budget by 2017. This means that the Chief Digital Officer will play a large part in the future of any organization.

With that in mind, here are some thoughts about the future of the Chief Marketing Officer. 

1. Social media and the customer experience. As the lines between customer service and marketing blur, it’s becoming more important than ever to develop a social strategy that serves both of these critical business functions. Why is responsive customer...

At ExactTarget, we’re passionate about our clients—they’re some of the best brands we know, and we’re often inspired by their dedication to the work they do. And Von Maur is an excellent example! From the company’s start in the late 1800s until now, Von Maur has always put their customers first.

If you’ve visited one of the retail chain’s stores, you know what I mean—impeccable service, inviting décor, musical ambiance, and top-notch products. And while the company’s perfected their signature “above and beyond” service in stores, Von Maur wants customers to experience the same great service...

• Nearly 81% of B2C marketers send welcome emails to their new subscribers
• Nearly 87% of retail companies send welcome emails to new subscribers
• By comparison, only 70% of non-retail companies sent welcome emails

Welcome Email Series

• A quarter of B2C marketers send a...

When Seth Godin introduced the concept of permission marketing in 1999, it was a big idea: ask customers to accept marketing messages from you. Looking at the best uses of mobile, I believe we are at a new crossroads; one where customers request marketing messages.

Never forget that digital messages rendered on mobile devices are personal and intrusive. On the Advertising Aggravation Continuum (shown below), they are most comparable to telemarketing. We all know what happened to that traditional marketing channel and the impact on brands that abused it.

In the middle of the continuum, people...

As I write this, 93% of UK online consumers are email subscribers and 40% of these subscribers are opening, reading and responding to email on their mobile phones or tablets. If you think these statistics suggest UK consumers prefer email above all channels for receiving offers and information from brands, you are absolutely correct!

A new report from eMarketer confirms why more marketing budget is flowing to permission-based email and why email has become “The Linchpin” of integrated digital marketing strategies.

Among the key findings in the report are these:

• Econsultancy and Adestra’s Email...

With all the buzz about NFC and the mobile wallet still swirling post-SXSW 2013, I’ve been particularly interested in the consumer’s take. I know SXSW-goers and marketers are hyped about these possibilities and boldly proclaim that mobile is the future of retail, but is this a case where marketers are from Mars? Let’s take a moment to ground ourselves and learn more about the mobile shopper before going futuristic.

A poll by eMarketer shows the mobile wallet services that mobile Wi-Fi users have used to make in-store purchases. In Q4 2012, one-third of mobile Wi-Fi users had used PayPal, 20%...

Each Thursday at 11am EST, marketers from around the world join the ExactTarget user community on Twitter for a conversation about trends and campaign ideas across the interactive marketing industry.  We call this virtual coffee chat the ExactTarget Café.

Yesterday Facebook announced a new “Gifts” product – the Facebook gift card. An actual physical card, users will be able to send friends monetary gifts to various retailers that will automatically load onto the card. A single card will be able to hold balances for multiple retailers at once.

Right now there are four participating retailers (Target, Jamba Juice, Olive Garden, and Sephora) and money is only added by “gifting.” However, as the concept catches on and expands there could be some very interesting results to this experiment.

One problem social marketers continually bemoan is...

The margin for error in Marketing has become razor thin. Here are five "MegaTrends" that underscore why marketing professionals need to be at the top of their game in 2013.    

MegaTrend #1: Customers are More Informed, More Influential, and Less Patient

Today’s customers are better connected, more informed, and more technically savvy than even 3-5 years ago. They have considerably more access to information to make smarter purchase decisions. They are much less patient with brands that do not deliver the information and offers they want. And they are much more vocal in expressing satisfaction –...

The United States Postal Service is encouraging marketers to integrate mobile campaigns with direct mail in an upcoming promotion that will offer businesses a two percent discount on qualified pieces. From March 1 through April 30, the USPS will let marketers place SMS calls-to-action, mobile bar codes, and digital watermarks on direct mail.

There are two ways that marketers can receive a discount—by including a mobile coupon or a click-to-call feature directly on the mail. For the mobile coupon, mail can be marked with an SMS short code, QR code, or digital watermark. For click-to-call offers,...

Spamhaus issues are on the rise.

We believe that Spamhaus has recently taken a greater interest in watching for list hygiene issues from known brands, particularly retailers. Activity has particularly ramped up in the third and fourth quarters of 2012, and we suspect this to continue into 2013.

Spamhaus wasn’t ignoring retailers previously, but the volume of issues, as reported by multiple ESPs and ESP clients, is definitely higher of late. It is our understanding Spamhaus recently brought live a bunch of new spam trap addresses that they didn't previously utilize when monitoring for known...

In this #InspiredMarketing blog series, we are sharing predictions on the future of marketing from 25 industry thought leaders. These predictions have been compiled in our new whitepaper, Inspired Marketing Predictions for 2013. In today’s post, Phil Szomszor of Firefly Communications shares his thoughts.

B2B Social Media Comes of Age

A recent eConsultancy survey found that 67% of marketing decision makers agreed that social media is integral to their marketing mix (and only 11% disagreed). But when I speak to B2B marketing and PR leaders, the received opinion is that social media is a “consumer...

Over the next several weeks, we will be sharing predictions on the future of marketing from 25 industry thought leaders. These predictions have been compiled in our new whitepaper, Inspired Marketing Predictions for 2013. Today, Jeff Eden of DEG Digital shares his thoughts.

The Year of “Omnichannel”

Most organizations are collecting and using data to drive sales and help decisions. However, few are truly taking advantage of the opportunities in front of them to leverage that data for successful, meaningful, sustainable engagement— usually erring by being too focused on tactics without cohesive...

In its “Online Holiday Shopping Forecast and Trends” issued in September, eMarketer predicted that 25 percent of e-commerce sales will happen during the 2012 holiday season.

Without question, retailers are using traditional advertising tactics including radio and television commercials, direct mail and print ads to drive customers to stores. And many will use social media, online video, and in-store promotions.  But the biggest catalyst for holiday sales this year will be mobile.

New research Prosper Mobile Insights reveals why mobile devices are fueling holiday retail sales:

• 66 percent of...